AIBU with Neighbours

[Balinahome]

I have a 5 month old cocker spaniel puppy and whilst we were on holiday my neighbours looked after her. Once we arrived home they informed us that they had taken her to the vet for constipation and as a result have changed her diet to kibble (she has always been on raw diet) and my neighbour was extremely confrontational telling us that the vet said we are feeding her the wrong diet and we are killing her. My husband & I are absolutely livid that they made no communication with us (text would have done if they didn’t want to call) and have given her a diet that we strongly oppose. We provided all her food before we left as we didn’t expect them to buy it for her. The day after we got her back she had the worst stools foul smelling and runny that she’s ever had in her life. I contacted our vet to find out exactly what had happened & she informed me that my neighbours had been boning & cooking the meat for her which she advised was not a good diet for the dog as cooking it will dry the meat out hence the constipation and that a raw diet is perfectly fine for a growing puppy. We have now decided to cut the neighbours off and not speak to them again but I’m wondering if this is a bit far I’m just so angry about the situation. Any advice please

Be a shame to fall out and you have to live next to them

I didn’t encourage them to be involved at all, these are the kind of neighbours that involve themselves with many aspects of their neighbours business, I’m not the only one that’s had issues with them, my neighbour had problems with them when they had their drive & extension done as they continually interferred with the workmen. We sat with them and went through a written feeding plan, excercise plan & ‘rules’ about how to interact with her, I asked them if they felt that they could manage it and if they were sure they wanted the responsibility and they were exceptionally enthusiastic about it at no point did they say they were unsure or unclear. My dog is supposed to go to day care every Thursday but they refused to take her despite agreeing that they definitely would as they thought it would be too much for her (she’s been going every week for 10 weeks)

But OP by leaving a 5 month old puppy in their care whilst you went on holiday IS encouraging them to be involved. If you knew others have had issues why on earth didn't you say no you had something else lined up?

I had no reason to think that they wouldn’t look after her as we had instructed. They are very ott with her but I just thought that they were a bit fond of dogs and although I found it too much it wasn’t actually causing her any harm

Start looking for a good dog sitter at least a couple of months before your next trip. Your doggy day care centre may be able to recommend someone, but go with your instinct. The good ones are booked months & months in advance. Look for a sitter that will take three or four dogs maximum with no children and your puppy will have a much nicer time!

I would be furious! How dare someone else change her feeding routine and refuse to take her to to day care, however it's done now and I agree with everyone else that you need to find a trustworthy professional dog sitter next time and as for the neighbours, I'd make very sure that they are kept at arms length from now on.

I hope you emailed them back lots of links to articles about raw reeding. Utter loons. Be careful they don’t call the rspca on you letting your dog out in your own garden.

Thanks everyone for your comments, but of mixed opinion & I appreciate that not everyone has the same view as me and maybe I am being too harsh & will try to remember that although they did the wrong thing it wasn’t malicious, lesson very definitely learned that they will never have her again & professional dog care from now on 😊

I think I would feel the same OP, my dog is raw fed and if I left him with someone with instructions on feeding and they completely ignored me I'd be annoyed too. Besides anything else, they wouldn't necessarily know what my dog is allergic or intolerant to so any change of food without your knowledge is potentially quite dangerous.

They seem like they are enthusiastic but don't know that much about dogs so I maybe wouldn't cut them off altogether, but obviously you know them best and whether you'd be able to cope with continued contact.